Oh Brother
by lulamae-golightly
Summary: A short drabble about how I can see Mulder and Scully's story ending.


**A/N: Okay, this is angsty and sappy. It's a way I can see the revival - and Mulder and Scully's story - ending. Hopefully it makes sense - sometimes it's hard to make my thoughts and ideas into a coherent fanfic!**

**The X-File doesn't belong to me.**

She sprints as fast as she can, pushing past doctors and nurses and patients, the only thought in her mind is that she has to get to him. She loses her shoes, but she leaves them there. She doesn't care about anything else.

Fox Mulder was shot repeatedly in various parts of his torso while they were on a case investigating a mysterious, disappearing serial killer. They were in the middle of nowhere and hospitals were hard to find, but when they eventually got to one Scully was unable to see him for about half an hour - time that she spent pacing the waiting room. But now he is in critical condition. _Critical condition_ \- she can't stop thinking of that phrase, along with other phrases that the doctors have told her. _We're afraid it might be too late to do anything for him. __Chances slim to none -_ that one hurts the most.

She bursts into his room, looking like a mess. There's a piercing series of beeps that sound erratic. "Mulder," she says breathlessly. "Is he awake?" she asks the doctor.

"Yes, he's awake. Is it true he has no family?" she nods hastily. "So you're all he has?" another nod. "Alright. I'm going to give you some alone time, but if anything happens, you call a doctor immediately." he requests. She nods again; she can barely hear what she's saying, the beeping from the heart-rate monitor is so distracting. "Okay. Thank you, Ms. Scully."

He walks out, and she hears a croaky voice say her name again. "Scully?"

"Mulder! Mulder, I'm here."

"Calm down," he says. His face is ashen, his eyes watery. There's a gash on his forehead that she can't look away from. She watched as he was shot, and now, looking at him, she can't stop seeing the event, over and over in her brain on repeat.

"Don't tell me to calm down! You're, you're..." tears come for the first time. "Mulder, you're leaving me! You were shot through your lung and your abdomen!"

"I know. And my body's giving out, my lungs are collapsing. I know." he wheezes. "They've given me the gory details. But I want you with me. Just talk to me. I don't need to be yelled at right now." he closes his eyes for a long time, and she squeezes his hand.

"Mulder, I know it's hard. But you're gonna be okay. How many times have we sat in the hospital, watching each other? You just...can't give up so easily."

"I'm not," he says. "I tried to fight, but I can't. Fighting would hurt me more. I've fought for so long."

She places cold hands on his face. "I can't lose you. After everything, you are all I have."

He takes her hands in his weak, shaky ones and holds them, warming them. "You can do so much without me, Scully. With me, all you got was hurt and loss. I didn't want to take so much away from you."

"Don't say that! I could never leave you! I never want to. I chose you over everyone. You're my one in five billion, Mulder."

He smiles, remembering when he told her those exact words, in such a similar situation so long ago. He kisses her hands. "And you're mine. I just wanted you to have everything you deserved."

"None of that matters. I have you, and that's all that matters. I'm not going to let you leave me." she says, brow furrowed, trying desperately not to cry anymore; she feels like a small child with a snotty nose and tear stained cheeks.

"Let go, Scully. Let go, please." he says, keeping her hands close to his heart. "Because I'm gonna need to soon."

She promised herself she wouldn't break down, but now it seems impossible. "Mulder," she wipes tears furiously away with her wrist. "Please."

"Scully. Let's not fight."

She nods. "I just hope you know I don't regret anything. In the end, I wouldn't change anything." The beeps become more irregular, his breathing more labored. "Stay with me." she repeats.

"I'm trying." he says. "When...I'm gone." he begins. "I want you to be okay. Promise me you won't get hurt or hurt yourself."

She reaches up to stroke his face. "I won't. I promise." All she wants to do is crawl into the bed and hold him, feel her close to him, instead of standing above him. It feels so distant this way.

"Don't mourn too much; I'll just be another guy in the ground."

"Don't say that," she says, softly this time. "Someone told me once to never give up on a miracle. That's all I ask, is that you keep your hope."

"I promise." he replies. She attempts a smile. She hopes that they will be reunited - that nothing can keep them apart. She prays and hopes that they will meet again, as they have so many times after she's lost hope. He's closing his eyes again. "I'm tired, Scully."

She knows that she has to let go as much as she can - she's not sure if she ever fully will. "I love you, Mulder," she says.

He opens his eyes for the last time and gives her one of his goofy grins. "Oh, brother." he replies. She can't hold anything in anymore. She's sobbing as a piercing, never ending beep begins to fill the room.

**A/N: Apologies if I didn't get the medical stuff right; I did as much research as I could. I wrote this when I was really tired, so if it's slightly low quality, I guess that's why. Still, thank you for reading.**

**-Lulamae**


End file.
